His Ex Used His Sperm Without His Permission. Now He Owes Child Support

(Newser)
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A married German couple, identified in the press only as Karl and Inge, fertilized Inge's eggs with Karl's sperm and froze them five years ago, intending to have children someday. Instead, they divorced. Inge decided to have a baby anyway, allegedly forging Karl's signature two times on paperwork in order to move forward with in-vitro fertilization—and after the baby boy was born, biological father Karl found he was legally obligated to pay child support. He sued, but a regional court in Munich ruled against him Wednesday, DW reports.

The couple had given written permission for the eggs to be frozen; in his lawsuit, Karl said he revoked his permission for them to be used after the couple's divorce, but the court ruled that he was not clear enough when he called to revoke consent. Karl also argued the clinic should instead be responsible for the child's financial support, but the court found that the clinic had no reason to question whether Karl's signature had been forged. In an odd post-script, DW notes that the court's medical malpractice section made the ruling and that it is not legally binding. (Read more child support stories.)